title: Biowaste: a Lactobacillus habitat and lactic acid fermentation substrate.
abstract: Composite organic waste was assessed for its physical, chemical and microbial suitability to serve as a substrate for the fermentative production of lactic acid. The biowaste studied was highly acidic (pH 4.3) and had high organic carbon content (45%). A clone library identified 90% of the bacterial community were lactic acid bacteria, mainly represented by Lactobacilli (70%). Cultivation using semiselective media identified Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis and their closest relatives as the dominating taxa. PCR-DGGE using general bacterial and lactic acid bacterial specific primers resulted in little heterogeneity of microbial community. These data indicate that biowaste is a preferred habitat of lactic acid bacteria, suggesting that the unsterilized biowaste and its natural flora could be used in a fermentation process for lactic acid production. Such kind of biowaste application could be an alternative for current substrates and provide a modern, efficient and environmental friendly waste treatment technology.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25d, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. Maraike.Probst@uibk.ac.at
authors.forename: Maraike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Probst
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fritschi
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Heribert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Insam
mesh_terms: D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; D005285:Fermentation; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000378:metabolism*; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal
chemical_list: D017744:Medical Waste Disposal; D019344:Lactic Acid
keywords: Lactic acid bacteria; Municipal organic waste; Organic residue; Unsterilized biowaste